1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to telecommunications. In particular, the present invention relates to devices and methods for allowing users of a mobile service network increased flexibility in how they respond to calls.
2. Background of the Invention
Traditionally, in both a plain old telephone service (POTS) or in a mobile service network, when a caller initiates a call to a recipient, a standard ring tone is generated at the recipient's device and a standard ring-back tone is generated at the caller's device. The recipient of the call has little choice in how to respond to this call other than accepting the invitation or letting their device continue to ring.
Developments in mobile service technology have allowed call recipients some choice in how they respond to invitations for a connection via a pre-set list of Caller IDs to be rejected. Rejecting the call immediately terminates the ringing cycle period. A user of a mobile service network may customize the ring-back tone a caller to their device hears. The user could select a piece of music to be played for the caller instead of the standard ring-back tone based on, for example, the caller's Caller ID and the time of the call. Further enhancements of this service, such as allowing for multimedia messages to be played for the caller during the ringing cycle period, have been promoted as well.
Customizable ring-back tones give the user the ability to provide a user-defined response to a call. However, this response must be defined in advance of the call, not in real-time as the call is received by the user's device. Rejecting the call allows the user to decide in real-time how he/she wants to treat the call. However, this rejection is only done in ways defined by the device manufacturer and, possibly, the mobile service provider. There is thus a clear need for a system and apparatus which allows the user of a mobile service network to, in real time, provide a user-defined response to a call. Such a system and apparatus would be ideal for communicating information about the current state of the call recipient in response to the call and allow users to better define when, where, and how they would like to communicate over the mobile service network.